Although I enjoy family-style challenges like Legacy, Immortal Dynasty, and the like, I was never drawn to the 100 Baby Challenge because, well, it’s 100 babies! But after watching Landros09 battle through his personal Hybrid Baby ChallengeLet's Play (and subsequently modify his own rules due to its difficulty), I was nevertheless inspired by a lot of what he had set out to accomplish. Using his original challenge as a base, I modified a lot of the rules and game-tested my own version. The end result: yes, it’s a tough challenge, but not impossible, especially if you employ a little strategy. So if you don’t mind baby-raising challenges but don’t think you can stand the endurance test of getting to 100, this may be more to your liking.

These rules are also available on my challenge blog .
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After a horrible accident claims the life of your childhood sweetheart and your only child, you somehow find yourself mysteriously face-to-face with the Grim Reaper. After listening to your tearful begging, he decides to give you back the ghost of your lost child, along with the promise to restore him/her fully back to life, provided you are willing to meet his grim terms.

The 26 Child Contract

Grimmy says, “To strike such a serious deal with me, I require profitable compensation. Not merely a soul for a soul, but an abundance of souls will suit me – 26, to be exact. One named for each letter of the alphabet, because I am in a whimsical mood. And you yourself will bear these souls, Mother, in payment for your lost child’s soul.”

The Father(s) Test

Grimmy says, “You may not think me much of a romantic, but even the love of your deceased husband requires its own measure of compensation. As such, every man you marry and/or successfully mate with will be mystically compelled to face a regular trial of his own. His test: to eat 3 magic jelly beans every evening before midnight, and let the hand of Fate have its say in the matter. But don’t fret, my dear – I’ll let the poor man off the hook from time to time.”

The 13 Magic Jelly Beans Test

“Furthermore, do not think that the first 26 children you bear will necessarily be enough to fulfill our contract. Upon reaching their majority, each child will have to face me in a life-or-death test to determine whether they will be allowed to finish out their natural lives or if I shall cull them instead.”

“The test itself is simple: to eat 13 magic jelly beans and survive.”

The 12 Lifesaving Tasks

Grimmy says, “Are you upset by this number? Well, I may not be considered fair, but I am a sporting fellow. Therefore, I will give you an opportunity to raise the odds in their favor. For every parameter you achieve, you may subtract one jelly bean from that soul’s final test.”

Grimmy says: “Of course, you are not required to do any of these things in order to present a soul to me, as I am not known to be picky. But in such a case, we’ll just consider the odds of the final test to be stacked in my favor. Do we have a deal?”

And in spite of your misgivings, you agree. What else could you do for the sake of your child’s soul?

“Excellent! I thought you might be the type who was willing to take on a challenge,” says Grimmy, who proceeds to show you a contract, which you reluctantly sign. Taking back the contract, he unexpectedly slips you another paper and adds, “Oh, there are a few extra addendums you’ll want to know as you set about your task; I’ll leave this set of rules with you to refresh your memory from time to time. In the meantime I’ll be seeing you around… more than you’d like, I’m sure.”

========================================================================GAME SETUP
========================================================================Required Expansion Packs:
At minimum you must have Generations, Supernatural, and Seasons installed. However, the challenge rules are written with the assumption that the player has installed all Sims 3 expansion packs. A “fully loaded” game is recommended for the complete gameplay experience, but is not strictly necessary.

World:
You may choose any EA or custom world to play in. You may edit the town any way you wish both before and during gameplay. However, certain objects have restrictions (see Restricted Item Rules) and require the presence of a magic jelly bean bush on the lot if used.

Settings:
Normal age span. Seasons and lunar cycle may be whatever you wish.

Mods:
Oh goodness, we’ve come to that issue. As far as I’m concerned, game maintenance and debugging mods are perfectly fine. I’m not interested in playing mod police; all I ask is that you use no “cheaty” mods that alter the gameplay in your favor. It’s supposed to be a challenge after all.

And for the record, I did play test this with a small selection of game maintenance mods (but no story progression) just to see how it would hold up over time. As one may expect, it did get a bit buggy but I still made it to the end. So again… I leave this to your discretion.

CAS:
Create a young adult female with any traits (except Unlucky), favorites, etc. you want; she must be a normal human. Next, add a ghost child with any traits, favorites, etc. you want. Set their family relationship to parent and child.

Starting Lot:
Due to my own irritations with building (I’d much rather move into someone else’s awesome build than deal with my ultra pragmatic housing boxes), I vacillated greatly on this. Moreover this isn’t a Legacy challenge per se, so being tied to one lot isn’t strictly required… at least not at first. It certainly becomes much more practical over the course of the game, however.

Therefore, you have two choices in selecting your starting lot, depending on whether you want to build your own house or just move around into pre-built housing.

1a. Legacy Style: Pick a 60×60 or 64×64 residential lot and move in with your usual starting funds. You may not move from this lot throughout the game.

1b. Home Buying: Pick a residential lot no larger than 20×30 that you can move into with your usual starting funds. Delete all furnishings upon moving in. You must only have the empty shell of the house left when finished. You may only move from this house after the birth of your first child.

2. Gated Jelly Bean Bush: After moving in, place a jelly bean bush on the lot. Enclose it in a fence with a gate. Lock the gate.

3. Initial Family Funds: Finally, use a cheat to set the family funds to zero. You do not need to worry about clearing out the Sim’s personal inventory, unless you’d like the added challenge.

========================================================================BASIC JELLY BEAN TEST RULES
========================================================================Here are more rule clarifications for all those who may or will undergo the jelly bean test and special exemptions.

Fathers:
Must begin taking the 3 jelly bean test on the day after the birth of their first child, every evening before midnight. They are exempt from taking the test on these days: holidays, family birthdays, special ceremony or graduation days, weddings (if their child was born beforehand) and during honeymoon vacations. Fathers who fail the test may have their gravestones moved to the family cemetery or inventory after Mom has successfully broken up with them, if you have to deal with that stupid “cheating on deceased spouse” issue.

Child Candidates:
Banned from eating jelly beans until after transitioning into a young adult, and after they have attended their graduation ceremony. Then they must immediately take the 13 bean test (with total amount adjustments as applicable.) If they successfully pass the test, they have a three day grace period before they must be moved out of the house (i.e. fed to the time stream.) Candidates who fail the test must have their gravestones moved to the family cemetery or inventory, unless you want them to haunt the lot for some reason.

Mother:
Generally exempt from taking jelly bean test. However, she may face the test if she wants to use a restricted item before it is unlocked (see Jelly Bean Restriction Gambit and Restricted Item Rules.)

General Issues with the Jelly Bean Test
If someone catches fire during the test as happens periodically, halt the test temporarily to give them time to extinguish themselves. Compel them to resume the test as soon as they are able.

====================================================================MISCELLANEOUS RULES
====================================================================In addition to the main challenge objectives, there are some further restrictions that Grimmy expects you to follow:

Legal Births
Mom must give birth to all Child Candidates through the assistance of her spouse/mate (i.e. through natural pregnancies.) No adoptions, PlantSims, genetic engineering, clones, wish for baby, time machine children, etc. The children of impregnated Fathers are ineligible as candidates. Only babies born as normal humans can become eligible candidates (see Paranormals below.)

Fathers
Mom is not required to marry Father, but all Fathers MUST be moved into the family before their first child is born; otherwise that child is disqualified as a candidate. Also, if Mom does not marry Father, she cannot go on a honeymoon vacation (see Travel below.)

Children
You may not give up children for adoption. Supernatural or other ineligible children cannot be removed from the house until they reach their natural age of majority. You may not send Child Candidates to boarding school, but you may board otherwise ineligible children. You may pick or roll traits when given the option (rolling is more challenging) but do not pick a lifetime want until they become a Young Adult. The Unlucky trait is forbidden; roll again if necessary.

Other Houseguests
You may not move anyone else into the household other than Fathers and their underage offspring, should those children not have an alternative family arrangement. Hiring maids, butlers, and buying Bonehilda is fine. You may not add a simbot or plumbot to the household, other than to immediately release or sell them.

Paranormals
Mom cannot become any supernatural other than witch throughout the challenge (though this is not advised, but it is legal.) Fathers must be human or transformed into human before Mom can procreate with them; if she is impregnated by a supernatural (even a wizard), the child is ineligible as a candidate. Ghost must remain a Ghost until the end of the challenge. Child Candidates may not be transformed into supernaturals until after they have successfully passed the bean test. Supernatural offspring may not be transformed into normal humans. Ineligible normal offspring may not be transformed into any supernatural other than witch.

Aging
You will need to discover a way to reverse aging during the course of the game, as well as a method to resurrect Ghost at the end. Only Mom and Ghost may use in-game methods to change their ages. Mother may not de-age until she has given birth to her first child; afterwards she may de-age at any time she so chooses. Ghost must be allowed to age into a Young Adult, and then after may de-age at any time. Fathers and Children must age normally, and may only age up with the cake on birthdays (i.e. when the age counter is 0.) Age Freeze is not allowed. Death flowers are not allowed, unless Mom is following the optional restricted item rules (see Jelly Bean Restriction Gambit.)

Travel
Mom may travel once after first settling in (so choose wisely and take your wallet.) Thereafter she may only travel on her honeymoon(s) with her spouse; vacation world travelling is otherwise prohibited for all family members. Going to university and travelling to the future are prohibited for all household members. A honeymoon vacation must occur in the 48 hour window after a wedding; otherwise it is prohibited.

Pets
Entirely optional. No restrictions on aging or cloning.

Commemorative Museum
All successful Child Candidates must have a commemorative display to acknowledge their achievements before leaving the house. At the bare minimum, this must be a portrait painting or a portrait photograph (must register their identity); the portrait cannot be made until after they age up to Young Adult but must be finished before they leave the house. Similarly, Fathers should also have a portrait or photograph made of them; it’s the least they deserve. Hang these in a display area somewhere on the lot. If you are moving lots, please be very careful not to lose these items during the move!

If you plan on scoring yourself at the end of the challenge, you will also need to either purchase a commemorative storage chest or build a display area/room for every Child Candidate. The chest or area will be filled with any personal achievements (awards, certificates, etc.) earned up to their graduation. Also, any bonus commemoratives such as ice statues, biographies, etc., will be added here to be tallied up at the end.

The buydebug cheat is allowed to purchase storage chests only to be used in the museum. All other uses must be obtained in-game.

Naturally, unsuccessful Child Candidates do not require commemoration (so cold!) but this is up to you. Their gravestones must be moved to a family cemetery or placed in the family inventory until the end of the challenge.

Due to the simple fact that premium content can make a huge difference in the difficulty of gameplay, another layer of challenge is added for players who have these objects installed. Note that this is entirely optional. Certainly the challenge can be difficult enough just as it is, but for those who like to employ a little more strategy, risk and reward… here you go. Plus, this idea (which I got directly from Landros09) is a large part of why I reworked the challenge in the first place!

There are 25 objects/combos on the list, targeted for their unique advantages to this challenge. During game testing, there were two unlocking schemes I used and couldn’t decide between, so I’m presenting both options.

All of these items are restricted (off-limits) at the start, but are progressively unlocked during the course of the game. However, you may place them on community lots provided that a jelly bean bush is also placed nearby (see Jelly Bean Restriction Gambit.) You may only place these items on your home lot once you have unlocked them.

Rules For Unlocking Restricted Items
Again, two schemes because I couldn’t make up my mind:

Category Method
For every four children who successfully pass the bean test, unlock one item from each category (a total of five items). Using this method will unlock everything by child #20, but you will have to employ patience or risky behavior in between the waits. (This is my preferred method and works well if you have almost everything listed.)

Listed Method
For every child who successfully passes the bean test, unlock one item from the complete list. If you only have between 9-12 items, unlock one for every two children. If between 6-8, unlock one for every three children. If you have 5 or less, unlock one for every four children. Using this method will unlock everything by child #25 (or sooner if you own less), and you won’t have to wait as long to get what you want. Of course, some things will be of little value becoming unlocked so late into the challenge… which is part of the challenge, too.

=======================================================================JELLY BEAN RESTRICTION GAMBIT RULES
=======================================================================(These rules are for those who don’t mind a little risk for a little reward. Also a reminder that this is for using restricted objects on community lots. You are not allowed to place restricted objects on the home lot until you have unlocked them!)

Grimmy sez: “As I said before, I am a sporting fellow, and I admire seeing that same spirit in another soul. And to show you my goodwill in this matter, I will give you a little extra something to encourage you along your way.”

Mom’s Jelly Bean Test
In order to use a restricted item before it is officially unlocked, Mom must pass a 3 jelly bean test of her own. Passing the test entitles her or a member of her family to one use of the desired restricted objects (so make sure it is an object that can be used on a community lot without bringing it home – i.e. forget those awesome dragon eggs, as they won’t come out of the inventory. Also, be aware of age restrictions.)

Less Risk, More Reward Over Time
Furthermore, as the incentive towards risk naturally decreases over time with the unlocking of restricted items, the jelly bean “payment” is also lessened. After the successful majority of Child Candidate #7, Mom only needs to eat 2 jelly beans per gambit. After Child Candidate #13, Mom only needs to eat 1 jelly bean per gambit.

The Death Flower Insurance Policy
But if Mom fails, all is not yet lost – she also has the right to use up to three free death flowers during the course of the game. (You know where the first one probably is; acquiring the other two is up to you and must be done through normal in-game actions.) Mom may carry the death flower in her personal inventory only while risking the test; she must remove it from her inventory otherwise.

If Mom catches fire from the jelly bean, it is a failed session. She must wait until the next day before attempting another test.

The Bonus Death Flowers
Still not certain if only three flowers are good enough incentive to wager Mom’s life with? For every successful Child Candidate that leaves the house, Mom is rewarded with a bonus death flower. (Again, acquiring these flowers is the player’s responsibility.)

Gambit Ineligibles
This gambit is only meant for Mom. Ghost can’t take the bean test, as he/she is already dead. Dad has enough problems of his own. Ineligible children aren’t cannon fodder. And Grimmy doesn’t want his Child Candidates prematurely bailing on their big test day. Also, Mom is forbidden from taking the test when she is pregnant.

Is It Worth It?
Don’t forget, you do not ever have to do this. Mom simply has to wait to unlock all items, which is a perfectly sensible course of action. So why risk it at all? Well, getting a quick leg up on a skill in the early game doesn’t hurt, or finding a lucky coin for the casino, and I hear there is something pretty awesome in that Titanic Toy Machine…

========================================================================OTHER RESTRICTIONS
========================================================================Apart from the objects on the Restricted Items list, there are limitations on the following EA Store Content items should you own them:

Gambling Objects – these may be used without restriction, but never bought for the home lot:
•Hit ’em Harder Blackjack Table
•Triple Riches Slot Machine
•Let It Ride Roulette Table
•Dead Man’s Hand Poker Table

Banned Objects – these are not allowed to be used during the challenge itself (but use them for your own endgame storytelling purposes if you so desire.)
•Laganaphyllis Simnovorii (Cow Plant)
•Door of Life & Death

Fortunately this challenge isn’t quick to lose even if you go through a couple of fathers and kids, but these specific events will stop everything cold:
•Death of Mom (See Jelly Bean Restriction Gambit)
•Death of Ghost or banishing Ghost back to the netherworld
•Resurrecting Ghost before meeting the 26 child requirement

Completing the End of Game Objectives

The challenge officially ends once:
•You have a complete alphabet of 26 children successfully pass the 13 jelly bean test
•Had the final commemorative portrait/picture finished and placed in the museum
•Have your ghost offspring become human

Congratulations! You survived/earned it!

Scoring the Challenge

Admittedly I’m not big on scoring myself, especially as I consider making it to the end of the challenge a huge payoff because of the length. Still, here is a simple chart for those who enjoy scoring themselves:

Add 1 Point for Each:
•Spouse who died a natural death (or even accidental)
•Successful child candidate

Subtract 1 Point for Each:
•Spouse who died from the jelly bean test
•Unsuccessful child candidate
•Ineligible child

Add 1 Bonus Point for Each:
•Permanent ice statue made of a child candidate or spouse (count only once)
•Masterpiece level portrait of spouse or child candidate
•Spouse who achieved lifetime want
•“Perfect” child candidate (i.e. only had to eat one jelly bean)

Unless you consider such things too spoilery before starting your challenge, stop reading now. But here are some words of advice as you strategize your start.

Consider your lot location in comparison to critical areas of the town.

Don’t rush in. Seriously, it’s not a good idea to charge into the baby-making too soon. Using your time wisely at the start is critical, especially if you are playing with content restrictions rules.

Also, if you’ve never played with a ghost before, be aware that they are sloooow. This takes some getting used to initially. However, with good planning, your ghost child can become invaluable. Also, there are ways to adjust for their travel handicaps.

Hi! VT here - I usually play TS2 but I'm in need of a distraction from building, and this challenge caught my eye - I have just created my starting family and I'll have an intro posted on my blog tomorrow.